IKEBUKURO: Cona Pizzeria 1F Standing Counter (REVISITED)

I think we've been monthly regulars at Ikebukuro Cona... my previous entry was table seating on the 2nd floor: http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2012/10/ikebukuro-500yen-pizzeria-cona-has.html

Otoshi (comes out automatically)...

Kenta and Scotts favorite pizza... Gorgonzola with Maple Syrup topping. 500yen

Can't resist this: Hanjuku tamago (half boiled egg?) with proscuitto ham.

And of course! Mexican Pizza with Jalapeno's and Pepperoni! 500yen

The Pizza Chef.  I think everyone working here are a mix of university students and staff in their 20's.

Guy in the black is probably the Manager...

Overall its just 5-Stars all-around with so many 500yen pizza's to choose from.  The staff is cool, the pizza's are larger than any other Cona each perfectly made, interior is new/clean... Great place for a date or just to hang out with friends.  

Shop: Cona Pizzeria - South Ikebukuro Branch

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13147825/

Gnavi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/gcgf000/

Hotpepper Coupons: http://www.hotpepper.jp/strJ001017063/map/

Address J: 東京都豊島区南池袋3-14-12

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Minami Ikebukuro 3-14-12
MAP:

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SHIBUYA: (REVISITED) UraCona Pizzeria your female staff has gone downhill... how can this be?

Since my very first visit to Ura-Cona I have always raved about it to my friends and even taken a few dates there... I mean the service and quality of pizza WAS dead on the best of all the Cona's in Tokyo.  So on this day my buddy Yas (Japanese guy) had some special guests from Hawaii and he wanted to hit the place up. 

We entered about 6:45pm and picked out a bottle of wine... If you enter before 7pm you can get the 1,000yen special (drink, appetizer, pizza and no entrance charge). Yas and I went with this deal and the...

Pâté arrived within minutes of our order... 

... and so 20 30 40 minutes pass and the pizza we ordered failed to arrive.  At the time there were only 2 couples in the shop and it normally takes about 2-3 minutes to make one of these thin crust pizza's.

So asked one of the waitresses if she could check on the pizza for us... no smile, no confirmation with the chef, just full of attitude responding that we had to wait our turn... hold up... then another 10 minutes pass and we ask again... more attitude.  This type of girl is someone you rarely find in any Japanese restaurant... just extremely negative.  Her hands were badly dry with cracks covered in band-aids.  I can only assume things have not gone well for her in general.  OK! Thats my honest rant!

Yas ordered the Tuna salad... avoid this... who wants to eat canned tuna on a bed of salad?

Overall the female staff this night was just not good... the Pizza's lacked any kind of volume on their topping and the appearance/quality vs my other visits was mediocre at best.

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2011/11/shibuya-ura-cona-500yen-pizzas-and.html

I can no longer say that this is my Favorite branch of the Cona Pizzeria franchise... the new champ goes to Ikebukuro Cona with amazing service and top notch pizza's that once resided at UraCona.  Ooohhh... as I write this I am so sad... the current female staff just gets me down...  Anyways!  Perhaps in few months time the part-timer's will rotate out and this review will change.  Aloha!

Shop: Ura Cona Shibuya

Foodie Website: http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1303/A130301/13110653/

Address J: 東京都渋谷区円山町7-7 川路ビル 1F

Address E:  Tokyo, Shibuya-lu, Maruyama-Cho 7-7
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IKEBUKURO: 500yen Pizzeria CONA has arrived!! 10/1/2012 OPEN!

I spent this summer away from Japan (there is a big gap in my foodie blog entries this year) and of course CONA was on my list of places to re-visit but little did I know they just opened up a brand new spot in IKEBUKURO~.  :)

Think we may have been charged for this as it is standard if you order alcohol... Otsumami?

Reserved a table for 3 on the second floor (all seating vs 1st floor all standing).

Great prosciutto.

Pickled veggies... keeps the mouth thirsty.

And of course.. the half boiled egg and prosciutto pizza... 

This was a great selection and the first time I tried shrimp avocado combo... guess its kinda like guacamole.

All three of us are novices when selecting wines but the 3 bottles we picked out were all smooth and very easy to enjoy.

Mexican Pizza with some tasty jalapenos.

To close we went for the Gorgonzola Pizza with Honey syrup topping.

Nice balance of young women and a few couples on dates... 

Final bottle of wine was a had a nice full bodied flavor.

Ladies... bathroom is shared but immaculately clean and fairly big.

The first floor is where you can get a great view of the chef at work... everyone here was friendly.

The pizza's compared to my favorite URA-Cona in Shibuya was a bit lacking in ingredients but the atmosphere was dead on comfortable.  Friendly and alert staff... I'm sure I'll be back again very soon.

Shop: IKEBUKURO South Side CONA

Gnavi: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/gcgf000/

Address J: 東京都豊島区南池袋3-14-12

Address E: Tokyo, Toshima-ku, Minami Ikebukuro 3-14-12
MAP:

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SHINJUKU: Cona Shinjuku Branch... think they hired a very inexperienced Pizza Chef.

Who doesn't love the amazing 500yen Pizza's at Cona!  I've been a regular at the Shibuya branches and my absolute favorite is Ura-CONA... but I now realize not all Cona's are equal. 

Shinjuku Cona has a great English Menu... 

... But just as a warning there are very little ingredients listed so if you don't care for Mayonnaise sauce in place of Tomato Sauce you should confirm with the watier~

All drinks are an easy 500yen and friend of mine went with the Atsu-kan (heated sake) that wasn't listed on the menu.

My trusty Guinness

Our first Mexican pizza arrived... visually it looked fairly undercooked and simply looked less appealing than any Cona pizza I've had in Shibuya.  One bite and I realized the center was still raw dough... hmm.

Spicy olive oil is always a nice kick.

Thats our Pizza Chef in the back with eye-glasses...

And our 2nd pizza came out... Avocado Pizza with yup Mayo sauce... oops, I shoulda double checked.  This was simply burnt all around and the center was raw.  Honestly the pizza chef at Shinjuku Cona really sucks.  They really need to send him to Ura-Cona for some training 

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2011/11/shibuya-ura-cona-500yen-pizzas-and.html

Inside was a full house but for the 500yen price point its probably a given.  Space is very tight but several types of seating... Counter, Long Table shared with about 10 customers and individual tables for 2-4 people.

I have never stopped at just 2 pizza's at Cona... but I just didn't want to eat any more burnt under-cooked pizza's.  I won't be back to support Shinjuku but will definitely only hit up Shibuya for my Cona cravings.  Should have taken the lowly 3.21 foodie score to heart.

http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13122366/

Shop: Cona Shinjuku Branch

Gnavi Website: http://r.gnavi.co.jp/gags300/

Foodie Website: http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13122366/

Address J: 東京都新宿区新宿3-11-12 永谷テイクエイト １Ｆ

Address E: Tokyo, Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku 3-11-12

MAP:

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